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China's new town and ghost city phenomenon has attracted interest from academics and the media since the 2010s. There is, however, little research on the lived experiences of people in new towns, or of the transformation of these new towns. This paper uses Lefebvre's spatial triad to examine how the spaces of the new town are produced and transformed by interactions between multiple actors. Using an analytical framework based on the spatial triad, we explore the interactive mechanisms and the dialectical relationships within the triad. Taking Kangbashi, a new town in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, as a case study, we explore how the spatial production of a new town is co-created by multiple actors, and local government-led conceived space plays a dominant role in that creation. Through interactions in the dynamic nexus of conceived-perceived-lived space, the new town space is in the process of transformation from an empty "ghost city" to a comfortable habitable city. This research deepens our understanding of new towns and production of space by connecting state-led and capital-driven urban construction with the lived practices of residents. Moreover, this empirical Chinese study contributes to knowledge and understanding across diverse global urban contexts. • An analytical framework based on the spatial triad is proposed. • The mechanisms for the transformation of a new town space from a ghost city to a more habitable city is examined. • The local government dominates both the production of space and its transformation in the new town. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]